Republicans: What is your opinion of the effect of the Koch Brothers on Republican policy?

The Koch Brothers are straight up Libertarian billionaires. Their goal is to create a society in which corporations can dominate government. They oppose regulation of internet giants such as Facebook and Google for this reason. They influence the Republican party through their large donations.

Some media opinion shows,(Fox News), are saying that the Koch brothers have Mitch McConnell by the short hairs, and that they are interfering with the regulation of internet companies that try to block free speech for their own personal political reasons, and that the Koch brothers will oppose any attempt to regulate large corporations.

Thoughts?

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Heartlander · 80-89, M

I'm likewise not a Republican but an independent. If I had to identify with something it would probably be as an anti-Democrat :) I realize that there are some good Democrats, but seriously oppose team-government.

I don't believe in vilifying the Koch brothers. While I like hands-off government, I don't like the idea of overpowering or fortifying large corporations.

The Koch brothers are well liked in Kansas, and they've done good things for Kansas and the world. But interestingly, Kansas had an interesting experience during the depression years where the banks did not fail. That was because Kansas laws at the time prohibited branch-banking and multi-bank corporations. Banks then were basically community banks, supporting the local communities rather than serving as ATM machines for large multi-state banking corporations. When the depression hit, people who had money in banks saw their deposits suddenly vanish as big businesses across America shut their doors. Except for Kansans, whose bank deposits were still kept locally and out of the reaches of big corporations.

I have no objection to big business, but they sometimes fail, and can take a big chunk of America's $$ with them when they do. We saw the depth and speed of an economic downturn just 10 years ago.

I favor anti-monopoly and anti-trust laws, and on reflection of our current health care problems, I think much of of the problem is due to politicians giving a pass to insurance companies and providers so they can bypass anti-trust regulations and in general get supersized by government regulations.

So I think the Koch brothers are free to participate on the same terms as the local butcher shop. And they shouldn't be given a right to manipulate or snuff out the competition.

Nice guys, but .... :)